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2 thoughts on “Resources”

Firstly, thank you for such an informative site. I’ve read a few of your articles this morning and cannot wait to read the rest.

Secondly, I hope you can answer a few questions I have. I am embarking on a ketogenic diet combined with IF (only eating one low carb main meal at night) in order to induce a bit of weight loss but mainly for the health and anti ageing benefits.

My first question; unfortunately I feel I cannot go without my coffee throughout the day (around 8 cups). I drink it with a splash of full cream milk and a stevia tablet. Does the milk inhibit the ketogenic state as well as the benefits of IF, and will the stevia throughout the day cause insulin spikes?

My second question regards the ketogenisis. You say it takes the body 4 weeks to achieve full ketogenic adaption. If I ate one carb laden dinner during this time would it mean I need to start from the beginning again? Also, after the four weeks would I be able to introduce a carb day once a week? The reason being that I have a very busy social life and I like to drink a sweet white wine and soda spritzer (at least a couple) over the weekend. I could maintain the low carb food aspect but I love my wine spritzers at social functions and would not want to do without them. I am trying to make this as easy as I can to fit into my lifestyle so that I do not fail.

Another problem I have is that I cannot afford to buy all the supplements you suggest. Please could you narrow it down to the bare minimum of what will be most beneficial?

I know you may think that my questions are ridiculous and that I should do have the willpower to do everything properly if I’m going to do it at all, but I know my limitations and want to ensure that it doesn’t end up like the rest of the things I’ve tried – on the garbage heap because of my lifestyle.

I hope you will reply to me and answer these questions as I really value your advice.

Hi Michelle: No problem for the cream and stevia, but I would make an effort to gradually cut the coffee down to one to two cups per day. Full keto-adaptation requires 4-8 weeks in ketosis. For most people, eating just 30-50 g or carbs will take them out of ketosis (some people can eat up to 100 g and other must have less than 20g). After that we need 36-48 hours of no carbs to get back to ketosis. I would recommend you don’t do regular IF, but only irregularly. IF is far more effective for men than it is for women. For women it is better to eat more protein and fat more frequently (2-3 times per day), because there is a greater risk for women’s body’s to go into starvation mode, slow down metabolism, and hold on to fat reserves. This happens when you don’t eat enough. So, the key for you, I would say, is to start with water and a green juice in the morning, eat an early lunch and early supper of fatty meat with salad or green veggies. If you want to snack on something, have a handful of roasted nuts. For desserts, make things with coconut milk and berries (puddings and smoothies), or almond flour, coconut oil and very dark chocolate (cakes and brownies), sticking to stevia extract powder for sweetening when needed. Alcohol is like sugar but a little worse because it stresses the liver more. So, keep that in mind. Good luck.